Dumpster Code Amendments Adopted Unanimously by Southold Town Board

SOUTHOLD, NY — The Southold Town board voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt amendments to the code in regard to dumpsters on residential property.

The vote came two weeks after a second public hearing on the issue that brought out a number of residents with concerns. An earlier hearing was held in October.

The code amendment puts the brakes on any dumpsters in the front or side yard of a residential property for more than 30 days, unless there is an open and valid building permit for the property.

Under the code amendment, dumpsters are allowed in rear yards on residential properties if they comply with setbacks and are fully enclosed by a stockade fence or other structure; residential dumpsters are also required to have covers.

The amendment requires that dumpsters be removed and emptied when full. The amendment states that dumpsters are not allowed on town roads, streets, sidewalks or highways. Agricultural properties, and condominium and apartment complexes are exempt.

At the most recent hearing, resident Lawrence Blessinger asked what he would do, if not allowed to have a dumpster in his yard; he asked if the new amendment would not pose a "big burden" to those whose homes are on Mattituck Inlet, a distance from Main Road that would mean a "strenuous effort"for seniors "who would have to lug their garbage all the way up — when people have had containers on their property for years."

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said residents are using the arguments as an end run around the town's yellow bag law. The fact is, he said, "Residents are supposed to use yellow bags whether they have dumpsters or not." And recycling should be separate, with a separate pickup, he said.

Russell said the town has received complaints from residents about unsightly dumpsters in front yards and that's what prompted the proposed change.

Blessinger said it would be difficult to place a dumpster in a backyard, where that backyard is the Mattituck Inlet.

Russell said if a carting company can get down a private road to empty a dumpster, it can do so, too, to pick up refuse outside at the curb.

Darren Aquino, a Bronx man who's the CEO for National ADA Advocates for Liberty and Justice — his website states that Aquino is running for mayor of New York City this year — said he was concerned about the code change's impacts on the disabled; he said the change could violate the Title II Americans With Disabilities Act because it would mean a change in a practice they've been accustomed to for decades.

"Veterans with no legs" who served the nation have been throwing their trash into dumpsters for years, he said. "Now you're telling them that they can't do that."

He warned that if the rights of the disabled were violated, "We will have to seek intervention by a higher court."

Aquino also questioned the financial impact of the yellow bags on the disabled, also not allowed under Title II, he said.

"I can appreciate the struggle to get refuse out, but how is getting it out to a 55 gallon tote more of an encumbrance" than to a dumpster? Russell asked.

"You want them to walk a certain distance to go to the front of the property," Aquino said. "John Doe went to serve this county and lost his limbs. This has been the practice for decades." Now, the town wants to change that and inconvenience vets, he said.

"You have to be mindful of that," he said. "It's a lot easier to accommodate than to go to the next level," he said, mentioning a potential lawsuit. "Even if it's one individual, the town must acknowledge them. They didn't choose to be disabled."

Russell said it was a "fair point" and the board would discuss carving out an allowance for those circumstances.

On Tuesday after the vote, Russell said moving forward, the question will be whether or not the town will require back door collection as an allowance for the disabled. "It would be a requirement in order to qualify for a carters' permit," Russell said. "This law doesn't address that. That's something that would be taken up separately. We haven't decided to move forward with that yet."

At the hearing two weeks ago, the supervisor added that the yellow bag law has been in existence since 1991 and never been challenged. The funds collected from the yellow bags is "directly used for carting garbage out of town. It's a user fee, not revenue," he said. "It's not new." Residents have also been required since that time to use the yellow bags in dumpsters, but have not been in compliance with town code, he said.

Aquino once again mentioned Title II and Russell said that would only apply to new fees. Aquino also said the disabled public had not been properly notified because notification wasn't given in Braille. "There's a duty of this body of government to communicate effectively," he said.

Councilman Bob Ghosio said Aquino's comments about the disabled resonated as he used to work with the disabled; he said he felt an exception should be a residential group home for the disabled.

After the discussion, Russell said, "Obviously, we want to comply with the spirit of ADA. I also want to see if we can work with local carters. I am sure they would want to comply with the spirit of ADA whether or not they are required to," he said.

One option, the supervisor said, might be "enhanced service, such as picking up garbage cans located close enough to the home so that they are still accessible to the disabled. With the cooperation of the carters and the town, I am sure we can address this important issue."

Mattituck resident Chris Kelly, who said he'd had a dumpster in his yard for 15 years, asked about setbacks and whether he'd need a site plan. Screening all the way "around the blessed dumpster, with a stockade fence, seems obscene to me," he said.

Russell said no site plan was needed, it would be the same as an outbuilding, but some screening would be required. The screening, he added, would not have to be a stockade fence.

Also at the prior hearing, Scott Schelin of North Fork Sanitation said his company has been in business for 54 years, employing locals.

With regard to aesthetics, he questioned why a neighbor has a boat with flat tires on a trailer, and a blue tarp "three quarters of the way off, blowing in the breeze," that hasn't been moved in two years. "Personally, I think this is more of an eyesore than a dumpster," he said. "It's not behind a fence and it's bordering a neighbor's property." He also mentioned homes that have multiple cars outside on the grass.

Russell agreed that it was an issue and said code enforcement should be called.

Schelin also asked about enforcement and whether his company would be immediately fined, or if the town would work with them; some homeowners might not get fences erected for a week or more, he said.

"We seek compliance first," Russell said. Talking about enforcement is a "cynical view," the supervisor said. "Usually when we pass code we get substantial compliance."

Jon DiVello of Peconic Recycling and Mattituck Environmental said a good number of those with dumpsters in town are handicapped. "I don't care for them outside people's homes but the people that have them there, there's a reason for it."

He said the code revision should not say that dumpsters should be emptied when full; they should not be sitting full but should be emptied before that point, he said.

Russell told DiVello that some feel the proposed code change is really a trigger for a discussion on the yellow bag situation. "I get it. Yellow bags are awful," he said. "But I think we need to not confuse issues. This is about putting dumpsters in the front yards of people's homes."